Take a bogus journey to Ontario with a young Keanu Reeves
Before he was famous, Reeves was a youth correspondent for CBC
Beyond starring in new films like Nicolas Winding Refn's Neon Demon, which premiered last month at Cannes, Keanu Reeves's most recent gigs are eclectic for a movie star. Just this spring, for instance, he's released an art book and accompanying gallery show (Shadows) and served as namesake to the most adorable animal actor in modern screen history (Keanu) — all this on top of his continuing performance as one of the world's foremost living memes.
None of this is shocking, though, as the Canadian-raised actor has taken unusual career turns for years. Back in the '80s, for instance, before he was a star, Reeves was a teen correspondent for CBC, embarking on journeys more bogus than anything involving Bill and Ted.
The show was Going Great, a sort of magazine program about over-achieving kids, and on this day in 1985, Reeves was in Woodstock, Ont. to learn about horses with a local 16-year-old who'd been able to start her own riding school for a quintessentially Canadian reason: government funding.
"I would rather be with hot, sweaty big horses than Jacqueline Bisset or Elizabeth Taylor," Reeves says while hanging with his new pony pals, and yet, the 20-year-old was in Hollywood just one year later, starring in Rivers Edge. The betrayal surely stayed with Billie Joe Dandy and Lucky Star until their dying whinnies.
Like a cool breeze over the mountains, by way of the CBC Archives, watch as Reeves learns a few stunts while on assignment.
For more throwbacks like this one visit the CBC Digital Archives.